San Francisco-based startup Lit Motors set automotive subcultures ablaze when it revealed the C-1 concept in 2011. Claiming all the benefits of a motorcycle with all the convenience of a car—and none of the drawbacks of either—the self-balancing, enclosed two-wheeler swiftly attracted the attention of mainstream media such as the New York Times and Wired.
Those platforms bolstered Lit Motors to open pre-orders for the $24,000 C-1 in 2015. When the production model still didn’t surface after two years, though, the company closed bookings and reimbursed customers. Lit Motors CEO Danny Kim didn’t let that failed launch deter him from bringing his autonomous-balancing electric vehicle (AEV) to the market, however.
